Healthcare

It was the worst dry spell in a century and hundreds of forest fires engulfed Singapore in eye-stinging haze. GSK’s eye-moisturizing brand, Eye Mo, needed to work its magic.

The budget ruled out mass media. Singapore’s laws – anti-graffiti and street painting, anti-flyer and sticker – ruled out the rest. What was left for Grey Singapore in a city where you can leave no trace?

Water.

Grey employed a local artist, with a bucket of water and a calligraphy brush as tall as himself. But first, Grey sent journalists and opinion-makers a piece of Singapore pavement, with a small brush and letter promoting the beauty of ‘water calligraphy’, and an invitation to the artist’s performance.

Watched and snapped by gathering city crowds, the artist drew beautiful water eyes on the city pavements. As they dried away to invisibility, a voice on a speaker said, “Don’t let your eyes go dry. Use Eye Mo.” Video captures the many smiles as the message went home.

The water painting became a news topic. PR and online helped aggregate a non-paid reach of over 32 million across Asia-Pacific, 2.3 million in Singapore. Grey figures an ROI of over 3000% on their budget of S$7,500.